Cosmetic container including an internally disposed cosmetic applicator and means to readily detachably hold the same in place



April 29, 1969 M. A. FLAX 3,441,033

COSMETIC CONTAINER INCLUDING AN INTERNALLY DISPOSED COSMETIC APPLICATOR AND MEANS TO READILY DETACHABLY HOLD THE SAME IN PLACE Filed May 22, 1967 60 80 6 74 2 30 INVENTOR.

3 MARTHA A. FLAX BY hi, It?

ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 132---82 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cosmetic kit composed of several shallow trays pivotally secured to one another for relative rotation into and out of mutually stacked positions about a single axis adjacent and parallel to the sides of the trays. The top tray is selectively covered by a lid swiveledly mounted thereon. Each tray contains solid cosmetics and one or more applicators to aid in placing such cosmetics on a persons face. Each applicator has fixed to it one half of a Velcro fabric coupling. The other half of the Velcro fabric coupling is fixed to the bottom wall of the tray, thereby enabling the cosmetic applicator to be readily attached to or detached from the tray.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention A cosmetic container having a covered tray in which there are mounted a cosmetic and an applicator therefor. The applicator is removably held in place on the bottom wall of the tray.

Description of the prior art It is conventional to apply dry cosmetics to a persons face with the aid of a cosmetic applicator. For instance, facial powders are applied with a powder putf or a soft wide brush. Dry rouge is applied with a powder puff or a somewhat stiffer and narrower brush. Eye shadow is applied with a still narrower brush. Eyebrow markings are applied with a slender eyebrow brush or an eyebrow pencil. Mascara is applied with an eyelash brush. Lipstick is applied either from a lipstick rod or with a lipstick brush. Thus, with the exception of a lipstick rod, it is necessary to have an applicator as an instrument separate from the' cosmetic in order to aid in applying the cosmetic to a persons face.

Some women keep cosmetic applicators in a medicine chest, others in a box which may or may not be designed to retain the same. Others keep their applicators in small bags carried about their person or in their pocketbooks. Some cosmetic containers as commercially sold have provision for carrying about the applicators within the container itself in juxtaposition to the solid cosmetics. Usually where this is done a groove or well is formed in the bottom wall of the container to just barely receive the applicator which hopefully is held in place upon closure of the lid by pressure of the lid against the applicator. This latter arrangement, although providing for convenient access to the applicator in juxtaposition to the cosmetic, has several disadvantages which it is the principal object of the present invention to overcome. Thus, applicators loose in wells can rattle about, making an undesirable noise. When the applicators shift, they tend to shed cosmetic particles ingrained therein. These particles dirty the underside of the closure lid or mirror. They also can find their way back to the solid cosmetic in the container to render the same unsightly, or where, if there is more than one cosmetic present, they can discolor the wrong cos- 3,441,033 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 metic. Moreover, pressure of the lid against the applicator tends to deform the applicator making it less easy to use upon consequent applications. Clip type holders for applicators are cumbersome, unattractive and unnecessarily expensive to make and incorporate in a container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As indicated above, it is the object of my present invention to avoid the foregoing drawbacks.

It is another object of my present invention to provide a container and cosmetic applicator of the character aforesaid wherein one or more cosmetics and one or more applicators are located in the same container, but wherein the applicator is inexpensively and firmly held in place. That is to say, the applicator is firmly held in place in a manner which does not require special techniques for attaching or detaching the applicator, does not require special molding techniques with respect either to the appficator or the container, and does not require special metal-forming techniques with respect either to the applicator or the container.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide a cosmetic container and applicator wherein the applicator can be attached to the container merely by placing it on the container in its desired locale and with the exertion of minimal pressure.

It is another object of my invention to provide a cosmetic container and applicator of the character aforesaid wherein the applicator can be raised out of engagement with the container with the exertion of minimal pressure and without having to handle the applicator in any special way.

It is another object of my invention to provide a container and an applicator of the character aforesaid wherein the connection between the applicator and the container is such that it requires no skill or dexterity to manipulate.

It is another object of my invention to provide a container and applicator of the character aforesaid in which the container is not specially designed for use with any particular applicator, but rather where in which any applicator embodying the present invention can be detachably connected to any container embodying the present invention, thus allowing for a wide range of interchange of applicators and containers, whereby a woman can pick and choose the applicator she wants for a specific cosmetic and is not restricted by virtue of a special shape of attaching means to any manufacturer-chosen 'kind or style of applicator.

It is another object of my invention to provide a container and applicator of the character aforesaid in which neither per se has to be made specially for mutual cooperation with the other, but rather in which the container and the applicator are rendered uniquely cooperable for ready detachable attachment merely by the aflixation to each of them of a special type of fabric coupling known in the field as Velcro.

It is another object of my invention to provide for a container and applicator of conventional construction and arrangement for easily and quickly converting the same for mutual cooperation at a particularly low cost through the use of the aforesaid fabric.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings in which are shown various possible embodiments of my invention,

- :FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cosmetic container constructed in accordance with my present invention, said container being illustrated with its trays swung into mutually angularly spaced position so as to expose the cosmetics contained in the trays and also to expose the cosmetic applicators, the lid being illustrated in a raised angularly displaced position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of said container, shown with the lid and trays in closed mutually stacked positions;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical central cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a highly enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of FIG. 3 and illustrating the Velcro coupling means in detail.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Essentially, my present invention is carried out by providing a cosmetic container including, for example, a shallow tray that can be covered at will as by manipulating a lid or sliding the tray into a chest. The tray has mounted therein at least one solid cosmetic and at least one applicator. The container is characterized by the fact that the applicator is detachably mounted in the tray by a Velcro fabric coupling means, hereinafter described in detail. Sepcifically, one half of a Velcro fabric coupling means is secured to the bottom wall of the tray and the other half of the Velcro fabric coupling means is secured to the handle of the applicator. The two halves of the Velcro fabric coupling means can individually be readily secured to the bottom wall of the tray and to the handle of the applicator, as by adhesive, so that such coupling means can be incorporated into the container without the necessity for forming the tray or the applicator handle in a special manner. It will be appreciated that the Velcro fabric coupling means will securely hold the applicator in place, so that it will not rattle about in the tray when the open top of the tray is closed and thereby shed particles of the solid cosmetic which would be scattered about uncont-rollably. It also will be appreciated that the Velcro fabric coupling means can be inexpensively and easily incorporated into such a container and is so simple to operate that it requires neither skill nor training nor dexterity on the part of the average woman who will be using such containers, without receiving special instructions as to their mode of handling. Moreover, the Velcro fabric coupling means acts as an isolating shock absorbing means interposed between the tray and the applicator to minimize shedding of cosmetic particles from the applicator brush.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral denotes a cosmetic kit constructed in accordance with my invention. Many details of the kit do not bear upon the incorporation in a tray of cosmetics and applicators with the applicators mounted with the aid of Velcro fabric coupling means. Hence, these details form no part of the present invention. They are shown, described and claimed in my copending patent application Ser. No. 639,968, filed May 22, 1967, for Cosmetic Container with Single Post Rotatable Mounting for Plural Trays and Ball Swivel Mount for Mirrored Lid for the top Tray. For purposes of completeness, such details will, however, be described preliminarily.

Thus, the cosmetic kit 10 includes a bottom tray 12, an intermediate tray 14, and a top tray 16. All of the trays are of the same dimensions and configurations in plan. As illustrated herein the shape is oval. Each tray includes a bottom wall 18 and a squat continuous erect circumscribing side Wall 20. Each tray is shallow, that is to say, its height is small compared to its length or breadth. Conveniently, the trays (as well as the lid and post soon to be described) are fabricated from plastic,

as by injection molding, although any other type of molding is suitable, and, if desired, the trays, the lid or the post can be made of metal or any other suitable selfform-maintaining material by fabrication methods well known to the art.

Each tray is formed with a lug 22 which, for convenience of handling and appearance where the trays are oval, protrudes from one end of the major axis of the tray. Desirably, the top and bottom surfaces of the lugs are fiat and coplanar with the top and bottom surfaces of the tray, as can be readily seen in FIG. 3.

The lugs are apertured to provide straight through bores 24 which are in mutual alignment. A post 26 snugly extends through the bores 24, the fit being such as to permit rotation of the lugs about the post. Near its upper end the post is formed with a radially extending flange 28 that is seated in a matching Well in the upper surface of the lug 22 of the top tray 16. The bottom of the post is hollow and internally tapped to receive the threaded shank of a flat headed screw 30, the head of the screw being located in a well in the lower surface of the lug affiliated with the bottom tray 12. The screw 30 is tightened sufficiently to force the lugs into light frictional engagement with one another which is enough to cause the trays to retain any mutually angularly displaced position to which they are swung, but which is not sufficient to impose a frictional restraint upon relative movement of the trays to make the trays inconvenient to handle. Accordingly, the trays can be moved from a closed mutually stacked position, as shown in FIG. 2, to a swung apart open position, as shown in FIG. 1, in which the swung out intermediate tray exposes the open top of the bottom tray and the swung out top tray exposes the open top of the intermediate tray.

Suitable means is included, other than the friction means between the lugs and between the lugs and the post, to positively maintain the trays in closed position (shown in FIG. 2) against accidental displacement thereof. Such means includes any simple, inexpensive catch means. For example, and as illustrated, the intermediate tray 14 is provided on the outer surface of its side wall at a position thereon at the other end of the long axis of the oval tray (opposite the position of the lug) with a pair of vertically registered nibs 32, 34, the nib 32 being the uppermost and the nib 34 the lowermost.

The bottom tray 12 is formed with a protuberance 36 in one piece with the side wall of the tray and located at a point in the tray at the opposite end of the long axis of the oval, that is to say, opposite from the end on which the lug 22 is positioned. Thereby, when the trays are in closed position, as shown in FIG. 2, the protuberance 36 is in vertical alignment with the nibs 32, 34. Said protuberance includes an upstanding cantilevered portion which projects above the upper surface of the tray 12 and overhangs the nib 34, but is short of the nib 32. This overhanging portion is formed with a socket that, when the trays 12, 14 are in closed position, is in positional registration with (overlies) the nib 34. The socket is shaped and dimensioned to snugly receive the nib. The sides of the nib taper to the rounded tip thereof, so that when the trays are swung into vertical registration the nib 34 will cam the cantilevered portions of the protuberance 36 slightly radially outwardly, enough to permit the nib to ride on the inner surface of said portion while said portion is flexed outwardly under stress. As soon as the nib reaches the socket, said portion of the protuberance will snap back against the outer surface of the side wall of the intermediate tray 14, thus latching the tray 12 to the tray '14. However, because the nib is of very tiny height, in the neighborhood for example of of an inch, only a small manual pressure is required to force the protuberance over the nib and into latching engagement therewith.

The top tray 16 has a similar protuberance 38 which, however, extends downwardly below the bottom wall of said tray 16 and is likewise formed with a socket designed to latch into engagement with the nib 32. The cooperation between the nibs and sockets is best shown in FIG. 3.

Means desirably is included to selectively cover the open top of the top tray 16 when the cosmetic kit is not in use. Such means includes a lid 40. The lid has the same configuration and size as the three trays and includes a top wall 42 and a squat peripheral side wall 44.

The lid is connected by a ball joint to the post 26 so as to permit swivelling movement with respect to the top tray 16. The ball joint includes a short upward extension of the post 26 above the flange 28, the tip of the post terminating above the extension in a ball 46. The lid 40 has a lug 48 of the same plan configuration as the lugs 22 and like the lugs 22 is located at an end of the long axis of the oval lid.

The lug 48 is formed with a slot 50 which extends from the rear surface of the lug inwardly so that the slot is open at the rear. The slot is also open at the bottom of the lug. The top of the slot is closed by a roof 52. The breadth of the slot is very slightly in excess of the diameter of the post 26 and even may be such that the side walls of the slot very lightly frictionally engage the post extension. Moreover, the side walls of the slots are formed with spherical indentations of the same radius as the radius of the ball 46. Lateral portions of the ball are received in the spherical indentations the depths of which are such that the indentations frictionally engage the ball with sufiicient force to maintain the lid 40 in any angular position to which it has been moved by a user.

The ball is inserted in the slot and received into the indentations by forcing the ball into the slot. The sides of the slot spread apart to permit insertion of the ball and snap together when the ball reaches the spherical indentations. The spherical indentations are so located that when the ball is received therein the bottom surface of the lug 48 lightly frictionally engages the upper surface of the uppermost lug 22.

The rear edge of the lug 48 is cylindrically rounded at a radius centering on the center of the ball 46. This allows the lid to be swung up about an axis perpendicular to the length of the post and parallel to the rounded rear edge, but prevents the lid from being turned about an axis perpendicular to the said mentioned axis and to the length of the post.

Hence, the lid may be swung from a closed position in which it covers the open top of the top tray 16, as shown in FIG. 2, to a raised position, as shown, for example, in FIG. 1, wherein it exposes the open top of the top tray and whatever may be located in said top tray. Moreover, the lid can be swung around the longitudinal axis of the post, as, for example, to a position such as shown in FIG. 1, where it may be convenient for the user of the cosmetic kit to look into the mirror while using applicators to transfer cosmetics contained in the trays to her face.

A means similar to that heretofore described is employed to hold the lid in closed position against accidental displacement. Said means comprises a nib 54 on the top tray immediately above the protuberance 38 and a protuberance 56 on the lid which extends downwardly below the bottom edge of the lid and overhangs the nib 54 whenthe lid is closed. Said latter protuberance 56 is formed with a socket that is latchingly cooperable with the nib 54.

It will be observed that all three protuberances 36, 38 and 56 are of matching plan configuration, so that when they are aligned with the trays in closed position, as shown in FIG. 2, they will form a vertical rib of pleasing appearance which balances the rib formed at the opposite end of the tray by the registered lugs 22, 48.

A viewing mirror 58 is aflixed to the undersurface of the top wall 42 of the lid 40, so that the mirror faces down into the interior of the top tray 16 when the kit is in its fully closed position of FIG. 2.

Each of the trays is provided with one or more solid cosmetics in the form of discs, wafers or cakes which are exposed when the open tops of the trays are uncovered. Any suitable construction may be used to mount such solid cosmetics in the trays and I have shown somewhat different arrangements, by way of example, for the different trays.

The bottom tray 12, as shown herein, is constructed to supply various shades of lipstick, the intermediate tray 14 is constructed to furnish mascara and various shades of eye shadow, and the top tray 16 is constructed to furnish face powder and a dark colored face powder known as brush-on.

More specifically, the bottom tray 12 contains a metal or plastic filler plate 60 in the form of an oval disc that fits snugly into the interior of the bottom tray, the same providing an elevated surface in which there are formed wells, each well having emplaced therein a disc 62 of lipstick. The filler plate effectively constitutes a part of the tray and is suitably held in place as by adhesive or heat and pressure fusion. In the latter case the plate is formed of a thermoplastic, as is the tray.

Similarly, the intermediate tray 14 is provided with a filler plate 64 having wells in which are emplaced discs 66 of mascara and eyeshadow.

As is customary in the cosmetic industry, each of the discs 62, 66 is replaceable for filling purposes, being held, at its bottom to the bottom of the well in the filler plate, as by a pressure sensitive adhesive. The bottoms of the wells effectively constitute a portion of the bottom walls of the trays.

For the purpose of illustration, the top tray has integrally formed wells 68 therein, the same being provided by transverse unitary upstanding divider ribs 70. In each of the semi-elliptical wells thus fashioned I insert a cake 72 of compressed face powder which is lightly held in place, as by a pressure sensitive adhesive.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that each tray, which itself constitutes a container, has mounted therein one or more solid cosmetics which can be rendered accessible by uncovering the tray which in closed position of the kit has the open top thereof covered.

Furthermore, in accordance with my instant invention, I associate with each tray and the cosmetics therein at least one cosmetic applicator. Thus, the bottom tray 12 has mounted therein a lipstick applicator 74 consisting of a handle in the form of a slender cylindrical tube having secured thereto narrow brushes at opposite ends. The intermediate tray has mounted therein a mascara applicator 75 that looks like a tiny toothbrush and an eyeshadow applicator 76 consisting of a handle in the form of a cylindrical tube having a narrow brush at one end. The top tray has mounted therein a pair of face powder applicators 78 each consisting of a short thick handle terminating in a short, broad, soft brush.

Each of the trays includes a Well for reception of its afiiliated applicator or applicators. The filler plate 60 has an elongated central well 80. The filler plate 64 has an elongated central well 82, and the top tray 12 has a transversely elongated central well 84 constituting the space between the ribs 70. The bottoms of the wells effectively constitute portions of the bottom walls of the trays. The wells are deep enough for the applicators received therein to be wholly contained in their respective trays below the tops thereof.

In accordance with the principal feature of my inven tion, the bottom wall of each of the wells (effectively the bottom wall of each tray) is covered by one half of a Velcro fabric coupling means and there is associated with the handles of the applicator brushes for that well the other half of a Velcro fabric coupling means. In each instance any suitable means may be employed to secure the half of the Velcro fabric coupling means to its affiliated component. Preferably, an adhesive is employed for this purpose, such, for instance, as a pressuresensitive adhesive applied in liquid form with a highly volatile fluid carrier which evaporates and leaves a pressure-sensitive film or coating. Similar coatings are applied to the lack of each of the coupling means and to the component to which it is to be aflixed, so that once the coatings are applied, the halves of the coupling means can be aflixed to the component simply by pressure.

As mentioned above in accordance with my invention, the coupling means is of the so-called Velcro fabric type, the structure of which is well known to the art and is fully described in United States Letters Patent Nos. 2,717,437 and 2,820,277, as well as Swiss Patent Nos. 295,638 of 1954, 332,759 of 1955, and 333,879 of 1958.

Essentially, a Velcro fabric coupling means consists of two layers of fabric 86, 88 which may be of any standard knit or standard weft and warp configuration made from any type of thread. These fabrics constitute backings each of which supports a different type of raised pile. The pile 90, which is supported by the fabric backing 86, constitutes an areally distributed multiplicity of closely spaced closed loops. The pile 92, which is supported by the fabric backing 88, constitutes an areally distributed multiplicity of closely spaced hooks or, equivalently, barbed spines. The two piles are fabricated from resilient form-maintaining filamentary material, preferably being formed from a plastic, and usually a thermoplastic, such, for instance, as nylon. Nylon is a long chain synthetic polymeric amide which has recurring amide groups as an integral part of the main polymer chain and which is formed into a filament in which the structural elements are oriented in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the filament. The hooks of the pile 92, as shown, consist of shanks terminating in retroverted bights which are adapted to be hooked into, i.e., caught or engaged with,

the loops of the pile 90. The hooks are flexible and therefore the fabric coupling halves may be separated by simply pulling them apart at which time the hooks will flex sufficiently to open up and disengage from the loops, whereby to separate the two fabric coupling halves. After separation the hooks revert to their original hook shape ready to be engaged into the loop fabric again simply upon pressing the two coupling halves together.

With the foregoing construction, i.e., with one Velcro fabric coupling half on the handle of a cosmetic applicator and the other Velcro fabric coupling half covering the base of the well in which the applicator is to be looated, the applicator can be set down in place in the well where the user desires, whereupon upon contact the two coupling halves will mesh together and become interengaged suificiently firmly to resist accidental stresses or shocks urging them apart. Thereby, the applicator will stay where it is put. It will not rattle, it will not shake, and thereby dislodge powder carried by the brush, so that whatever of the cosmetic is picked up by the brush will,

subsequent to deposition of a portion thereof on the face, remain on the brush after it is replaced in the open-topped container alongside of the cosmetic.

It is of importance to note that because the hooks are made of resilient plastic material as are the loops, the engagement between the two halves of the Velcro fabric coupling means yields slightly in both compression and tension upon the application of shock forces. This is highly desirably in the application that I have made of the Velcro fabric coupling means because it, in effect, cushions the applicator on the brush of which the particles of cosmetic are lodged, so that even when the cosmetic kit is carried about by a Woman and subjected to the infinite variety of small shock forces that are inherent in such transportation, the cushioning effect of the Velcro fabric coupler tends to isolate the applicator against these miscellaneous shock stresses, whereby there is even less tendency to shake loose the lodged cosmetic particles. In this manner a cosmetic container embodying my invention stays clean and neat at all times and is a most attractive and desirable item.

It thus will be seen that I have provided a cosmetic container which achieves the several objects of my invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiment set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A cosmetic container comprising an open-topped tray having a bottom wall and side walls, a solid cosmetic mounted within said tray, a cosmetic applicator for said solid cosmetic, and means detachably mounting the cosmetic applicator within said tray and providing a shock cushioning effect therebetween, said means including two mutually engageable and disengageable coupling halves, each coupling half including a backing and a raised pile supported on said backing, one of said piles comprising an areally distributed multiplicity of closely spaced closed loops, the other of said piles comprising an areally distributed multiplicity of closely spaced hooks, said piles being fabricated from resilient form-maintaining filamentary material, means fixing one of said backings to the tray, and means fixing the other of said backings to the applicator.

2. A cosmetic container as set forth in claim 1 wherein the applicator has a handle and wherein one of the backings is fixed to such handle.

3. A cosmetic container as set forth in claim 1 wherein the filamentary material is of a synthetic plastic.

4. A cosmetic container as set forth in claim 1 wherein the backings are of fabric.

5. A cosmetic container as set forth in claim 1 wherein one of the backings is fixed to the bottom wall of the tray.

6. A cosmetic container as set forth in claim 1 wherein the backings are fixed to the tray and applicator by adhesive.

7. A cosmetic container as set forth in claim 1 wherein plural solid cosmetics are mounted within the tray.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,688,042 10/1928 Gaess 220-31 2,136,843 11/1938 Dinkel 13279 2,228,169 1/1941 Keogh et al. 3269 3,348,716 10/1967 Nakata 215-6 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner. G. E. McNEILL, Assistant Examiner. 

